Saturday, August 2, 2014

Week 9 - Jul 27th - Aug 2nd, 2014


July 27th to August 2nd

Wednesdays are shopping day for the mission and we are the shoppers. This week we purchased 3 irons, 5 ironing board covers, 3 shower curtains, 2 shower rods, 3 dust pans, 3 mops, 2 buckets, 5 lg kitchen trash cans, 3 small trash cans, 5 spray bottles, 7 bottles thin bleach, 5 bottles thick bleach, 4 bottles dish soap, 4 bottles toilet cleaner, various light bulbs (there are no standard bulbs), 2 sets measuring cups and measuring spoons, 4 butcher knives, 5 can openers, 3 potato peelers, 2 lg fry pans, and 2 sm fry pans, 2 white boards and a few office supplies.


Inside the "bunker"


There is a large bustling city of lizards
that live under the bunker.



Thursdays the Zone leaders come in to pick up ordered supplies for the flats in their zone. Sister Thompson does the proselyting   supplies and we do the the flat supplies. Today we passed out 1 vacuum (a used one that Sister Hansen cleaned up), 2 heaters, 3 irons, 2 ironing boards, 2 ironing board covers and 1 pad, 3 shower curtains, 2 shower rods, 3 bath mats, 4 dish towels, 2 dish cloths, a set of pot holders, 1 small rug, 3 U.S. plug adapters, 2 regular adapters (because there are several shapes of plugs here, each needing it's own adapter), 4 extension cords (there is only 1 or 2 plugs in a room, if you are lucky), 1 broom, 2 mops, 3 buckets, 5 lg trash cans, 3 sm trash cans, 1 toilet brush, (the order said "birthroom brash", it was written by an African), 1 plunger, 2 spray bottles, 1 squeegee, 1 dish pan, 4 bottles bleach, 1 Handy Andy cleaner, 1 can cleanser, 2 dish soap, 1 toilet cleaner, 1 tile cleaner, 1 windex, 5 different light bulbs, 1 set measuring cups and spoons, 8 lg plates, 6 sm plates, 4 mugs, 10 bowls (Elders complain, they want BIG bowls and they only get regular cereal bowls), 4 glasses, 6 table knives, 8 forks, 1 spoon, 3 butcher knives, 1 knife sharpener, 4 can openers, 2 potato peelers, 4 lg fry pans, 1 med pot with lid, 2 whisks, 2 cookie sheets, 2 9x13 pans (or close to that), 1 clothes basket, a bunch of hangers, 2 bags curtain hooks, 1 table lamp. We will do it all again next week with what ever it is the Elders need. (need not want) They send SMS's to the computer and we take it from there.

All this while Elder Hansen takes care of emergencies with phones, electricity, water, flat problems of every kind. With nearly 200 Elders plus senior couples there are always going to be emergencies. One set of Elders recently had their flat broke into, there were 2 muggings in the last week, one Elder was taken to the hospital for chest pains, and yesterday the AP's (assistants to the president) called because the Elder they were with passed out and they couldn't get him to wake up. When we get the emergencies taken care of, then we can work on our regular assignments. Leases, bills, credit cards, medical claims, and so forth and so forth.....  

Tuesday, I had to close a senior's flat and move 'pack and stuff' their things into the garages.  While I was at it I sort of did what I could to clean and straighten and organize them a little better.  Soon I'll have to move everything into an area under the new offices.


The two bays on the left are Larry's two storage garages for furniture and appliances.

Larry's little Nissan 'bakke' or truck for towing the trailers.  Stick shift 5-speed with left hand driving from right front seat.



My two little helper pals.  I've loaded up everything to furnish a senior couple's flat in the front trailer to be delivered about a four 1/2 hour drive north of here.

Left door is my new 'garage' under our new offices where I'll have to move and store everything as soon as they 'pave' the area.


Other than roads you will rarely see pavement used in any parking lot of any size.  Cement sidewalks are very rare as well.  Instead, because labor is so cheap here they use paver bricks which are usually quite small.  Some of the poor women actually make these bricks where they live from anything they can find to use old mining tailings provide much of the material.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday we had troubles with the internet server and with the Church IMOS (Internet Mission Operating System) being down, then my SMS message system went down while trying to pay electricity for about 40 flats.  Hard to find joy in some of these trials, but somehow we do and then we just move forward.

The new offices finally looking better now that we could clear out more trash and boxes and get the crew to hang the artwork.


Melanie's reception area is looking better now.



Larry's office still needs window covering.


Pres. Dunn's office is looking okay too but needs window coverings as well.

We are busy, but we do LOVE the work and are blessed to be in this place serving the Lord and his messengers.  What an experience!



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